


Find the Cracks

by TerminalMiraculosis



Series: Weblena Week (Sept 2020) [3]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Dreams, F/F, Horses, Weblena Week 2020, but im very proud of how it turned out, its a lil experimental
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26481511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerminalMiraculosis/pseuds/TerminalMiraculosis
Summary: When Webby gets trapped in a prison of her own dreams, it's up to Lena to find her and pull her out before it's too late.
Relationships: Lena (Disney: DuckTales)/Webby Vanderquack
Series: Weblena Week (Sept 2020) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922503
Comments: 1
Kudos: 72





	Find the Cracks

**Author's Note:**

> Done for day three of [Weblena Week 2020](https://weblenaweek.tumblr.com/): Dreams!

Webby wiped the sweat from her brow, staring down the enraged sword horse in front of her. It whinnied and snorted and scraped the floor of the ring with its hoof, eyes fixed on Webby. She could hear the crowd roaring around her, calling for a show—no,  _ demanding _ one. And Webby was happy to give it to them.

The sword horse charged, and Webby lowered her stance. Just as it was about to gore her on its horn, she leapt over it in a flip, grabbing it around the neck as she went and pulling it head over hooves after her. She slammed it hard into the floor of the ring, and a bell chimed, signaling the end of the match.

“AND THE PINK POWERHOUSE TAKES IT AGAIIIIIIN!!” screamed the commentators. The crowd cheered, and Webby smiled wide, throwing up her hands in celebration. 

The sword horse groaned, stumbling back upright, and gave her a respectful nod. “Good one, Webby. I’ll get you next time, though.”

It reached out a hoof, and Webby took it, shaking it firmly. “I look forward to it!”

The sword horse exited the ring, hooves clopping against the cool, damp stone of the cavern floooooooo#%85@N00&#X%7—

—against the cheap carpeting of the stadium as it made its way back out to the break room. 

Webby leaned back against the ropes to catch her breath; this was exhilarating! So many worthy opponents, but she’d managed to beat each and every one of them so far. She felt on top of the world!

“CAN ANYONE BEAT THIS WRESTLING MACHINE?” the commentators shouted, riling up the crowd some more. “WELL, THIS NEXT OPPONENT CERTAINLY SEEMS TO THINK SO! EVERYONE, GIVE A LOUD WELCOME TO THE ONE, THE ONLY, LENA SABREWIIIIIIIING!”

Webby frowned as the commentator’s voice echoed throughout the hollow, underground chambeeeeeeJ65#N&01@%F#—

—throughout the large stadium. Lena was here? Webby didn’t know she was into wrestling. And why would she want to challenge Webby? They were friends! She didn’t want to have to fight Lena!

The crowd roared, and Webby turned to see Lena pulling herself under the ropes and into the ring. “Hey, Pink.”

“Lena?” Webby said, confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Yeah, about that,” Lena said. “None of this is real.”

Webby’s eyes widened. “What? What do you mean?”

“You’re dreaming, Webby.”

“But…” Webby frowned. “But this feels so real. And how are you here, then? Is it like that time Magica was messing with you?”

“Sort of,” Lena said. “But its not Magica this time. We were out adventuring, and a creature called a night mare attacked you. It puts you into a dream state while it feeds on your consciousness. If you don’t wake up, you’ll die.”

“Thats…” Webby swallowed. “Okay, that’s a lot to take in. How do I wake up?”

“You’ve got to see the cracks,” Lena said. 

“The cracks?” Webby felt another drop of water fall from the stalactite above heeeeee%4E&#W200—

—Webby felt another bead of sweat roll down her face. “What cracks?”

“The inconsistencies,” Lena said. “Look at the audience.”

Webby turned to the crowd; a bunch of faceless figures sitting unmoving in the stands, producing cheers and jeers at appropriate intervals without so much as moving a muscle.

Webby shivered. “Okay, that’s creepy.”

“Dreams usually are once you start paying attention,” Lena said.

As Webby looked around, more and more things stuck out to her—the commentary coming from nowhere, the fact that the match hadn’t started yet, the clock on the wall refusing to tick forward, the temperature, the water drip, drip, dripping onto her head, the sickening feeling of her life force being sucked out of her chesssssss#2HJ%0@#D3F&44%L@—

Webby gasped, eyes shooting open. She was in a cave—right, they were exploring a cave. She was falling. She felt weak.

She landed in Lena’s arms. “Webby! Are you okay?”

“Um—” Webby clutched at her head. “Two out of ten stars.”

“Uh, guys?” Webby recognized it as Dewey’s voice. “I think that just made it mad!”

Webby looked forward to see a horse-like figure standing a ways away, pure white and sparkling like sand in the sun with golden eyes that saw straight through her.

“Is that the night mare you mentioned?” Webby asked. “I thought it would have a darker color scheme.”

“Um, we’ve got bigger problems!” Louie called out from somewhere behind her as the night mare charged forward. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this!” Webby jumped from Lena’s arms and leapt straight over the monster, grabbing it around the neck with a familiar movement and slamming it into the cave floor. It let out a shrill screech, and then there was a brilliant flash of white-gold liiiiiiiiH#3K76%L&V43@D&— 

Webby woke up.

She groaned, throwing off her covers and rubbing at her eyes. That’d been a weird dream.

“Oh, you’re up.”

Webby turned; Lena was there on the floor, snuggled up in her sleeping bag with her phone in her hand, looking up at Webby.

“Lena?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “Uh, we’re having a sleepover. Remember?”

“I—” Webby frowned. “Right, yeah. Still waking up.”

Lena cocked her head towards the door. “Wanna get breakfast?”

Webby smiled, hopping out of bed. “Granny’s making pancakes again, isn’t she?”

“Hope so. Her pancakes are the best,” Lena said, putting her phone into the pocket of her sleep shorts. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

Webby giggled. “I won’t.”

“Great. Now come on,” Lena said, climbing down from the loft.

Webby felt a bead of sweat roll down her face. She wiped it off absently and followed Lena down.

Granny was, in fact, making pancakes again. Webby and Lena were the only ones at the table, waking up after the adults but before the triplets, so they each got a hearty stack of pancakes. Webby proceeded to slather hers in a frankly ungodly amount of syrup, while Lena patiently buttered every layer.

As they ate, Webby’s eyes wandered, eventually settling on the window, and the two golden eyes staring back at her through it. Then she blinked, and they were gone.

Webby frowned.

“Something wrong?” Lena asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

“I—no, I don’t think so,” Webby mumbled. “I just had a really weird dream last night.”

“Me too,” Lena said.

Webby swiveled around to her, eyes wide. “About the night mare?”

Lena frowned. “A nightmare? No, it was just weird. Dream-weird. I was, like, starting a revolution for a country of little mole people, who—” She stopped suddenly. “Okay, look, it’s really dumb when you say it out loud.”

“Oh.” Webby looked down at her pancakes.

“Did  _ you _ have a nightmare?” Lena asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Webby sighed. “No, it wasn’t a nightmare really. I was dreaming that I was dreaming. And there was a monster that was making me dream, right, and so then you entered that dream to wake me up, and then I beat up the monster, and then I woke up.”

Lena put another bite of pancakes into her mouth as Webby talked, chewing slowly. When Webby finished, she gulped them down with an audible swallow. “Wack,” she said.

“Yeah, it was pretty wack,” Webby agreed. She wiped another bead of sweat off of her forehead.

Eventually, they finished breakfast. Webby walked her plate into the kitchen and set it down in the sink, before letting out a labored breath and leaning back against a nearby stalagmiiiiiii#HJ&3A%MM1#1—

—against the counter.

“Jeez,” she murmured, “I just woke up, but I feel like I can barely stand.”

Lena frowned concernedly as she set her own plate down. “Are you sick or something?”

“I don’t think so,” Webby said. “Maybe?”

“You might want to just lie down,” Lena advised.

“I should get Granny to take my temperature,” Webby decided, looking around the kitchen. “Where is she?”

“Probably off doing her chores or something,” Lena said.

“No, but she just made us pancakes,” Webby reasoned. Then she paused. “Wait. Did she even bring us our pancakes?”

“What are you talking about? Of course she did.”

Webby wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. She was cold. “No, no, wait—this is all wrong. The cracks, Lena—you told me to look for the cracks!”

“Hey, hey,” Lena said, taking a step in and holding Webby by the shoulders. Webby leaned instinctually into her. “Everything’s okay. You’re probably just tired. Let’s go back to your room, okay? We can lie down together if you want.”

“Right,” Webby mumbled. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s go.”

And then they were in her room, standing in front of her bed. 

“There we go,” Lena said.

“Wait, but…” Webby looked around, confused. Golden eyes out her window. Gone when she blinked. “How did we get here?”

Lena raised an eyebrow, smiling fondly. “Um, we walked here? Wow, you really are out of it.”

“I—yeah, I must be,” Webby said, clutching at her chest.

“Come on,” Lena said, leading Webby into her bed. They laid down side by side, Webby feeling the cold, rough stone beneath her featheeeeee81&J#D2%4%M7VC#F—

—feeling the cold, soft sheets beneath her feathers.

“Something’s wrong, Lena,” she whispered.

“Everything’s fine,” Lena whispered back. “It’s just in your head.”

“Why can’t I breathe?”

“You don’t need to breathe,” Lena said. “Just fall asleep. You’ll feel better.”

Webby’s eyes started to slide shut. Another drop of water dripped down onto her forehead.

And then, a muffled shout from somewhere else in the mansion: “WEBBY!”

Webby’s eyes snapped back open. “What was that?”

“Shhh.” Lena pulled her in tighter. “Don’t worry about it.”

_ “WEBBY!” _

It was closer this time. Webby sat up, wriggling out of Lena’s embrace.

Lena scowled. “Persistent little—”

The door to Webby’s room blew open in a burst of purple magic, and a second Lena came tumbling in. “Webby! The night mare is stronger than I thought, its layering your dreams!”

Webby scrambled away from the Lena on her bed, looking between the two of them. “Wait—what’s going on?”

“You’re still dreaming, Webby,” the Lena from the doorway explained. “You’re still in danger.” 

“Right.” Webby swallowed. The stalactite dripped onto her head again. The pain in her chest was getting worse. “Just—just find the cracks right?”

“That’s not going to work,” Lena said, reaching out an arm. “It’ll just trap you in another dream. Take my hand; I’m gonna have to pull you out myself.”

“I’m so confused,” Webby whined, clutching at her head. “I’m so tired…”

“Yes, you are,” said Lena—the other Lena, the one in Webby’s bed. She raised her own hand, and snapped her fingers.

Suddenly, Webby found herself standing in a white void. The two Lenas were in front of her, both looking a bit disoriented.

“What the…?” the one on the right mumbled, looking around.

“Take my hand!” the one on the left said, stumbling forward a bit and reaching out. “Quick! Before she tries anything else!”

“Don’t listen to her!” called the one on the right,  _ also _ reaching her hand out. “She’s trying to trick you!”

Webby looked between the two of them, then couldn’t help but smile. “Ooooh, a ‘find the real friend’ problem! I’ve always wanted to be a part of one of these!” She cleared her throat, then pointed at the left Lena. “Okay, you start. Make your case.”

“Um—okay,” she said. “Remember when we first met? I was writing those pranks in the bottles, and then we went to Ma Beagle’s birthday. I shoved a cake in her face!”

“Don’t trust her,” the Lena on the right said. “The night mare’s been absorbing your consciousness, remember? It has access to your memories! That’s how it’s impersonating me in the first place!”

The Lena on the left scoffed. “And how would  _ you _ know that unless  _ you’re _ the night mare? Come on, Webby, you’ve gotta trust me! I have a  _ terrible _ memory, there’s no way I would remember something like that about a night mare’s powers!”

Webby looked between the two of them, trying to spot any clue she could use to determine which Lena was hers, but she was coming up blank. She was growing more tired by the second, too, and had to fight to keep her eyelids apart. “I—I don’t—”

“Webby, listen to me,” the right Lena said, expression soft. “Just—just in case you don’t make it out of this, I need you to know something.” She swallowed. “Webby, I—I love you.”

Webby’s breath caught. “Lena, I—”

“Noooo, you idiot!” the other Lean cried. Webby took a step back at the outburst, turning to see that the Lena on the left was blushing bright red. “Whyyyy did you tell her?! I’m—agh, this is so embarrassing! Stupid goddamn dream eating no-good horse! I wasn’t ready yet!  _ Aaaagh!”  _ She buried her face in her hands.

Webby couldn’t help but giggle, and she felt a wave of relief wash over her— _ there _ she was. She stepped forward, pulling Lena’s hand away from her face. “Hey, it’s okay,” Webby said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“What?” Lena looked at Webby. “Oh, right. Yeah.” She coughed awkwardly. “Um—here we go.”

She grabbed Webby’s hand, and everything went white.

* * *

Webby gasped, sitting up and spluttering. She tried to stand, but couldn’t find the strength.

“Easy,” Lena’s voice said from next to her. She’d also been lying on the ground, but was sitting up now, supporting Webby from the back. “You were out for a while.”

Webby looked around. The fog was clearing from her head, and it was all coming back to her now; they’d entered the cavern, and the night mare had been there. It had charged them, and she’d tried to do her flipping suplex move, but instead, it’d hit her with some sort of beam. And that’s where the memories cut out. She was pleased to see that the night mare was lying stone-still on the cavern floor a ways off, the light in its eyes snuffed out.

Stupid magic beams. She  _ hated _ magic beams.

“Are you alright, lass?” Scrooge asked, crouching down next to her. She could see Huey, Dewey, and Louie a ways back as well, looking at her concernedly.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” she assured. “Thanks to Lena.”

“Any time,” Lena said.

“What even happened in there?” Huey asked.

“It’s… complicated,” Lena said. “Maybe later.”

The implication—‘not with Webby right here right after she almost got her soul eaten’—was obvious, but Webby appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

“The good news is that we got the treasure while you were out,” Louie said, holding up the Lost Idol of Aminnamora. “So we can just leave now.”

“Good,” Webby said. “That’s good. Leaving sounds good.”

Lena helped her up, and let Webby lean on her as they trekked back out of the cave. Lena was quiet the whole way back to the plane, only speaking up to ask if she needed to take a break.

It wasn’t until they were safely seated on the other side of the plane from the boys that she finally spoke up. “Hey, um—about the, uh, thing.”

“Which thing?” Webby asked. “There were a lot of things.”

“You know, the…” She trailed off, face red. “What the night mare said when she was pretending to be me.”

“Oh.” Webby swallowed. “That thing.”

“Yeah.” Lena coughed. “Look, it’s, um—I’m sorry about that.”

“Nooo, no, there’s nothing to be sorry for! Why would you be sorry?” Webby twisted in her seat, putting her hand over Lena’s. “If anything, the night mare should be apologizing to you for saying that before you were ready.”

“It’s… yeah.” Lena sighed. “I guess I’m just apologizing because now it’s all… awkward.”

Webby rolled her eyes. “Lena, I’m not sure if you’ve realized, but I’m, like, the queen of awkward. I can handle it. And I, um—I like you a lot too.”

Lena’s fingers interlaced with hers, and Webby felt a soft squeeze.

She squeezed back. “I think that’s why the night mare took your form, you know,” Webby said. “It knew that I trusted you. It knew that I couldn’t feel any safer than I do when you’re around.”

Lena let out a shuddery breath. “I was so scared, Webby. You almost died.”

“Hey,” Webby said softly. “It’ll take a lot more than almost dying to tear us apart.”

Lena laughed, laying her head on Webby’s shoulder. “Promise?”

Webby giggled. “Promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you want, you can find me over at tumblr at [webby-vanderslap](https://webby-vanderslap.tumblr.com/).


End file.
